The Epson Tour returns to South Dakota for the fourth annual Sioux Falls GreatLIFE Challenge at Willow Run Golf Course. After a one-week break, the Epson Tour kicks it into high gear with only six events remaining. Tournament play begins on Thursday, August 30 with the final round scheduled for Sunday, September 2.

Strong Field in South Dakota

Players are returning to action this week at the Sioux Falls GreatLIFE Challenge with 19 of the top-20 players in the Volvik Race for the Card standings in the field this week after a week off ahead of the final stretch on Tour. The only player inside the top 10 on the money list not in the field this week is Lauren Kim, who will be teeing up this week in Portland LPGA’s Cambia Portland Classic.

Volvik Race for the Card race heats up

Dottie Ardina sits atop the Volvik Race for the Card standings with nearly $70,000 in earning, but Stephanie Meadow is hot on her heels in second. The race to get into the Top 10 and gaining LPGA membership for the 2019 season is much closer.

With just six events remaining in the Epson Tour season and with over a million left to be earned in 2018, this week in Sioux Falls could make all the difference. It holds one of highest total purse at $210,000 with a winner’s payout of $31,000. The winner will either supplant themselves inside the top 10 on the Volvik Race for Card money list or move into the running with five events left.

Looking for Win #2

With Marta Sanz Barrio capturing the FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship, there has still not been a multiple winner in 2018. Besides Sanz Barrio, there are twelve more winners in 2018 that are in the field this week in South Dakota looking to become the first two-time winner this season. Winners include IOA Championship champion Stephanie Meadow, IOA Invitational winner Elizabeth Szokol, Self Regional Healthcare Foundation Women’s Health Classic champion Vicky Hurst, Epson Classic winner Jenny Haglund, Valley Forge Invitational champion Louise Ridderstrom, Four Winds Invitational winner Maia Schechter, Forsyth Classic champion Isa Gabsi, Island Resort Championship winner Ruixin Liu, Prasco Charity Championship champion Muni He, Donald Ross Classic winner Stephanie Kono and Danielle Downey Credit Union Classic champion Eun Jeong Seong.

By this same point in the schedule of the 2017 season, Nanna Koerstz Madsen, Erynne Lee and Celine Boutier each had multiple wins.

A Second Chance

A look back at Sioux Falls’ leaderboard from 2017 shows Celine Boutier winning by one-stroke and securing her spot in top-10 with her second win of the season. Four players who finished in the top-10 behind Boutier at last year’s event return to the field again this year. Kim Welch, who finished fourth in 2017, is in search of her first win on Tour since the 2008 Alliance Bank Golf Classic. Emily Child, Samantha Richdale, and Nicole Sakamoto all finished in the top-10 last season are in the field again this week.

Sioux Falls GreatLIFE Challenge Field Breakdown

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